On Saturday, when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee abruptly cut short her speech at a public meeting in Bhawanipore, citing “deliberate disruption” by BJP workers – it was not a first for the TMC supremo.

Only a year after ending 34 years of Left Front rule, Mamata walked out of a televised town hall. When a student questioned her on women’s safety and the conduct of TMC leaders, the chief minister branded the audience “CPI(M) and Maoist cadres”.

“I must tell you that you are CPI(M) cadres, Maoist cadres… I cannot reply to CPI(M) questions. The students are only asking Maoist questions and the CPI(M) questions…They are the Maoist students,” she snapped.

The moderator of the show, when told the chief minister that the audience members were indeed students from Presidency University and Jadavpur University, Mamata brazened out, “So what…they are only selected for Maoist activities.”

Mamata walked off the stage and directed the police to take pictures of the students who questioned her.

Notably, the moderator of the show, Sagarika Ghosh, is now a Rajya Sabha member from TMC.

During the 2019 Lok Sabha campaign, Mamata Banerjee’s motorcade was intercepted multiple times by crowds chanting “Jai Shri Ram.” In a viral incident in Bhatpara, she disembarked from her car to confront the chanters directly. “You will come from other states, stay here, and abuse us? I will note down all your names,” she warned, questioning if such behavior represented a true democracy.

On Saturday, she cut short her speech after a rally of BJP supporters passing by chanted ‘chor’ (thief) slogans.
“See, how they are shouting? All the media is insulting and humiliating. They are shouting because they don’t want me to hold the meeting. I beg your pardon. I will not be able to address you now. Tomorrow, I will hold a rally here. I apologise, and I will leave. Please vote for me in protest of this,” said a visibly disturbed TMC chief.

On Sunday, she returned to the same place and held a padyatra.